Maya

"Maya" is a N. Y.-made indie film, painfully amateurish in acting and most other departments. Commercial outlook for release by WB subsid Claridge Pictures is poor.

Labeled as "a film by Berta Dominguez D.", the picture expounds her upbeat philosophy in the form of a slice of life tale about student and teachers at N. Y.'s High School of Fashion Industries.

Maya (Berta Dominguez D.) is a music teacher from Mexico, who preaches peace and love, defuses racial confrontations at school, and tries to inspire her students to excel. She becomes romantically linked to an English teacher (Joseph Rosevich) who similarly tries to motivate his pupils,and to a handsome student Juan (Luis Manuel), Juan falls in love with a beautiful Black model (Valeria Riccardo), but she's more interested in her globe-hopping career than in him.

Episodic storyline eventually gets lost as Maya becomes paranoid and goes crazy, before an arbitrary "cast-party" type of cheerful ending.

Cast, especially Rosevich, overacts stridently, wih Dominguez D. Particularly uncomfortable before the camera. Luis is convincing as the young hero, however. Post-synched sound is not up to par in several scenes.

My review was written in May 1982 after a Midtown Manhattan screening.